Part 6 of the Mark of the Beast Series
In the last
- Speak blasphemy against God (Dan 7:25)
- Manipulate God’s Ten-Commandment Law (Dan 7:25)
- “Wear out the saints” by killing God’s People (Dan 7:25)
Clearly, we are not dealing with a good organization here. Now, some of you may say that they do so many good things now. Well, I’m not denying that they may do good things but it is because God removed their oppressive power since the year 1798. Their evil, for the time being, lies mostly in their false doctrines. Oh, let me not forget their horrific child abuse scandals. However, the book of Revelation says they will get their power back (Rev 13:3) on a world-wide scale. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Now we are going to see exactly how they fit the tenth characteristic of being in power for “3 and a half times”
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.“
Dan 7:25
What this verse is saying is, the saints of the Most High will be given into the hand of the little horn for a time (1) plus times (2) and a dividing of time (half a time) which = 3 and a half times.
First let’s look at the original word that is translated into “time”.
It is actually Aramaic and is transliterated:
‛iddân
This word is described as in the Strong’s concordance as:
H5732 (Strong)
עִדָּן
id-dawn’ (pronunciation)
(Chaldee); from a root corresponding to that of H5708; a set time; technically a year: – time.
So we see that this word ‛iddân technically means a year. Now that we know we are dealing with 3 and a half “prophetic” years, let’s see how it converts into literal time.
There are 3 precedents that we can use to ascertain that these “prophetic” years are actually interpreted using the “day for a year principle”.
This principle means that each day (in this time period) will actually last for a year in literal time. For example, If I were to count 1 week in prophetic time it would turn into 7 years literally. There
So let’s now look at the scriptures that prove this.
1. 40 Years in the Wilderness
“After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.”
Numb 14:34
In this particular verse, God is sentencing the people of Israel to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness because they were afraid to go into the land that was promised to them because of lack of faith.
They were afraid to just go into the land and conquer it so they asked to send spies into the land. God granted them authority to and they sent a few spies. These spies happened to be in the land for 40 days and then returned. When they returned, two came back and said it’s a great land to be desired but the rest focused more on the fact that the people seemed too strong for them to defeat.
We can take this as an object lesson as Christians. God desires us to overcome sin and will help us. However, many of us focus on the difficulty of overcoming sin rather than the power that God can give us.
As a penalty, God said that all of them, save the 2 that came back with a good report, would die in the wilderness. 40 years was the sentence that God gave them because 40 represents a generation. The children got to see the promise that the parents were too afraid to see. However, God sentenced them using a day for a year principle.
2. Ezekiel’s Prophecy
“And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
Eze 4:6
As you can see, God uses the same principle but this time Ezekiel is actually foretelling the future. God instructs Ezekiel to lie on his side for 40 days to represent a 40 year period where Judah would be in some sort of turmoil for their sins. I have not quite ascertained what trouble this refers to but if you are up for a challenge, you can surely investigate!
3. Jesus’s Prophecy
The next, and arguably the most important, precedent comes from the time Jesus was on Earth and He, Himself declared a very interesting prophecy.
“And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.”
Luke 13:32
Now, this was close to the beginning of Jesus’s ministry and after he was threatened. In Luke 13:31, a Pharisee told Him that King Herod would kill Him if He didn’t leave. Jesus then explains that He would continue His ministry for 3 more days. However, we know that His ministry lasted three and a half years, thus, He must have been using the day for a year principle.
Let’s Do the Math
Now that we can say without a shadow of doubt that God uses a day for a year principle to predict certain time periods, let’s actually crunch the numbers.
3 ½ years is our starting point.
In a Hebrew Calendar, each month only has 30 days. So 1 year = 12 months multiplied by 30 days.
This = 360 days. Now, 360 days multiplied by 3.5 (3 ½ years or times) = 1260 days. We now need to use the day for a year principle so it ends up being a 1260 year period of time.
We know that the Papacy lost its power in 1798 officially. So if we work our way backward, we can ascertain that they must have gained it in 538 officially.
1798 AD – 1260 years = 538 AD.
Fact Check
Can we prove that the papacy gained official civil authority in 538?
In a
“Vigilius ascended the papal chair under the military protection of Belisarius, AD. 538.”
Shaff’s Church History vol. 3, Pg 327
In another quote, the author proclaims the “middle” or “dark” ages, a time of terrible persecution, began in 538 AD.
“With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, the history of the ancient city may be considered as terminating: and with his defense against Witiges (538)
Finlay, Greece under the Romans Pg 295the history of the Middle Ages” commenses
An excellent book for understanding church history, the Great Controversy, also agrees with the papal reign lasting from 538 AD to 1798 AD. This book is a must-read for getting a very deep understanding of this subject and it uses a ton of scripture to help the reader understand what’s happening from a biblical perspective. Let’s see the quote.
This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.”
Great Controversy Pg 439 paragraph 2 (GC 439.2)
As we have both the starting point and the ending point, prophecy simply does not fail.
“And now I have told you before it come[s] to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.”
John 14:29
Stay tuned for the next part in this series where we will see that the “little horn” power becomes the antichrist power of Revelation and will be the entity that promotes the Mark of the Beast.
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